This past Monday, the Church celebrated a Memorial that I believe can help us to respond to our loved ones about sensitive and contentious issues surrounding sexual morality, and it does so by reminding us of the meaning of our lives, even our bodies.

The early Church understood that the Risen Christ was truly present in their midst - in the life they lived together, and in the celebration of the Eucharist. In other words, they realized that their new communion with Jesus was a holy communion.

When I think back to my experience of learning about religion as a boy, I seem to remember it as little more than being told about things that God did many years ago. God, to me, was real, but He was in the past. I wasn't taught how to know Him as a presence.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of a promise that Christ made to His disciples. Isn’t that an amazing thought: that God would promise something to us! What have we ever done to deserve anything from Him? And yet, it pleases Him to bestow gifts on us.

We’re in that first novena, those nine days of prayer between the Feast of the Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost, when the Apostles were gathered together in the Upper Room with Our Lady. Our Lord has ascended to the Father, and now we’re waiting for the Advocate, promised to us by Our Lord, who will make it possible for us to follow after Our Lord.

For a little while now, I’ve wanted to offer a refresher on some of the prayers and gestures we practice as Catholics, which tend to erode over time without our being aware. I hope these reminders will help us to stay united in our common life.

I’m happy to say that the PAVERS have been engraved by the Stations of the Cross. And I’m also happy to announce that we’ve installed a HEARING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM in the church!

Maybe I’m stretching to connect it to the readings for this Sunday, but I think the image of the Church as a field hospital is perhaps a helpful way to understand Christ as the Good Shepherd, as we hear Him described this weekend.